Thousands of families helped by 10 On Your Side coat drive

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – It has felt like a colder than usual winter in Hampton Roads. The 10 On Your Side Coats for Families drive proved to be a necessity. Thousands of families across Hampton Roads are able to stay warm thanks to the awesome amount of donations. Because of your generosity, the campaign collected more than 6,000 coats from Southside to the Peninsula. 10 On Your Side Coats for Families hit a silver anniversary in 2017.  It is a mission that’s now seen 25 years of success.

The campaign’s goal is to provide new and gently used coats to children, teens and adults in need across our region.

“I am incredibly humbled by the show of support from our viewers and community partners,” said WAVY-TV/WVBT-TV Vice President and General Manager Carol Ward. “It is because of your selflessness that we are able to make an impactful difference in improving the quality of life for children, teens and adults.”

The Hampton Roads Show’s Co-Hosts Chris Reckling and Kerri Furey welcomed people to the coats distribution at Samaritan House in Virginia Beach. It was just one of several in our area which opened its doors to hand out coats to people of all ages on December 16 and January 20. CHIP of South Hampton Roads, The Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast, The YWCA Virginia Peninsula and Newport News Family YMCA also held distributions at their locations. New this year, The Union Mission and Salvation Army participated by presenting coats to their clients in need throughout the winter.

Albano’s Cleaners on the Southside and Ames Cleaners on the Peninsula joined forces this year to clean every coat which entered their 23 businesses combined. Albano’s produced special hanger tags this year which helped promote awareness to all clients.

1st Advantage Federal Credit Unions and Hampton Roads Honda dealers took part in the incredible initiative serving as a drop off location for coats along with Albano’s Cleaners and Ames Cleaners. Harrison’s Moving & Storage transported the clean coats to distribution locations every week since the campaign launched in late November.